January 2014 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Green Power Partnership has recently released updated lists of the top Green Power Partners. A new addition to the National Top 100 list is Google Inc. (6th). Google uses more than 737 million kWh of green power annually, primarily supplied by two 20-year power purchase agreements. Intel Corporation maintains its (1st) placement on the list using green energy to cover 100 percent of its electricity demand. The Green Power Partnership features Top Lists in the following categories: Top 30 Retail list, Top 30 College & University List, Top 30 On-site Generation List, Top 30 Local Government List, Top 30 Tech & Telecom, and Long-term Contracts List.

The standings for the 2013-14 College & University Green Power Challenge, which monitors green power use of colleges and universities both individually and by athletic conference have also been released. As of January 2014, the Big Ten Conference is leading the Challenge with over 309 million kWh in annual green energy used to power the conference. The University of Pennsylvania tops the list for the largest green power use overall, more than 200 million kWh annually, of any school in the Challenge.

January 2014 - University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), the largest employer in western Pennsylvania, is among 76 other Pennsylvania organizations committed to purchasing green power as part of the Environmental Protection Agency's Green Power Partnership. UPMC joined the Partnership after acquiring 15,000 MWh of renewable energy certificates (RECs) from wind energy to power all of its data centers. The RECs were generated by wind farms from the EverPower Wind Holdings Inc.

October 2007 - Sterling Planet announced that it signed an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) extending the agency's commitment to purchase renewable energy equivalent to the annual electricity needs at more than 190 facilities nationwide. Under the agreement, Sterling Planet will provide 135 million kWh from renewable energy sources to EPA in the next year.

As a buyer of 100% renewable energy, EPA continues to be an active partner in the agency's own Green Power Partnership, a voluntary public-private program that promotes renewable energy. EPA ranks seventh on the program's top 25 partner list, second only to the U.S. Air Force among government buyers.

September 2006 - The Western Area Power Administration announced that it coordinated renewable energy certificate (REC) purchases by five federal agencies totaling 236 million kWh over five years. The RECs will be supplied by 3 Phases Energy (now serviced by 3Degrees) from wind, biomass and geothermal projects located in California, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oregon and South Dakota. The purchases will help the agencies meet federal renewable energy use goals set in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The agency purchases include:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Denver (7 million kWh)

Fort Lewis, Wash. (209.5 million kWh)

NASA Ames Research Center, Calif. (12.3 million kWh)

NASA Eastside Airfield, Calif. (4.1 million kWh)

U.S. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region (2.75 million kWh)

Western also coordinated a 1.5 billion kWh, five-year purchase of renewable energy by Colorado Springs Utilities, which will be used to comply with the state's renewable portfolio standard (RPS) requirement. Under this agreement, Community Energy, Inc. will supply RECs from wind energy and other renewable projects located primarily in California, Kansas and Nebraska.

September 2006 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has become the first federal agency to purchase renewable energy for 100% of its annual electricity needs. EPA recently signed a 13-month contract with 3 Phases Energy (now serviced by 3Degrees) for more than 100 million kWh of renewable energy certificates (RECs), bringing total agency green power purchases to nearly 300 million kWh. The latest RECs purchase involves more than 190 EPA facilities nationwide and supports the development of wind farms in California, South Dakota, Oklahoma, and Wyoming.

December 2005 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has entered into a three-year contract to purchase renewable energy certificates (RECs) to cover 100% of the electricity needs of its new Potomac Yards buildings in Arlington, VA, and its headquarters satellite facilities. Under the contract with 3 Phases Energy (now serviced by 3Degrees), EPA will purchase 12.45 million kWh of RECs derived from new wind facilities in Nebraska, Wyoming, Minnesota, and Oklahoma. With this purchase, EPA now procures green power for 85% of its electricity needs nationwide.

August 2005 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it has entered into contracts to purchase another 26.3 million kWh of renewable energy certificates (RECs) for its Chelmsford, Edison, Fort Meade, and Richmond laboratories and its Chicago Regional Office.

Under a three-year contract with Select Energy, EPA will purchase 9 million kWh of RECs from new wind farms in North and South Dakota and Wyoming to meet the needs of its Chelmsford and Edison laboratories. For its Richmond laboratory, the agency signed a three-year agreement with 3 Phases Energy (now serviced by 3Degrees) for 1.9 million kWh of RECs sourced from wind energy projects in California. Finally, EPA entered into a one-year agreement with Basin Electric Power Cooperative for 15.4 million kWh of RECs from wind farms in North and South Dakota for the Fort Meade lab and the Chicago Regional Office.

With these new contracts, EPA now purchases green power to serve more than 80% of its electricity needs nationwide.

January 2005 - The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it has committed to purchase renewable energy certificates (RECs) for its regional offices and science and technology laboratories in Kansas City (KS), Denver and San Francisco. Under two separate three-year contracts, EPA will purchase more than 17 million kWh of RECs annually—the equivalent of the total electricity needs of these facilities.

Under a contract with Aquila Inc., EPA will purchase RECs from the Colorado Green Wind Project in Prowers County, CO, for its Denver-based facilities and the Gray County Wind Project near Montezuma, KS, for its Kansas-based facilities. EPA also has an agreement with 3 Phases Energy (now serviced by 3Degrees) to supply its San Francisco Regional Office with RECs from The Geysers geothermal energy facility in Middletown, CA.

Western Area Power Administration managed the solicitation and provided contracting services for the procurements, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory provided technical support. EPA purchases more than 229 million kWh of green power annually for 23 laboratories and offices, which represents about 79% of its electricity needs nationally.

January 2005 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has entered into a three-year agreement with Unicoi Energy Services to purchase 100 million kWh of renewable energy certificates (RECs) annually for its Research Triangle Park (RTP) complex in North Carolina. The RECs will be sourced from a pulp and paper plant using biomass resources in Georgia. The contract nearly triples the size of previous purchases for the RTP complex and represents the largest green power purchase yet by EPA, which now purchases 220 million kWh of green power annually for its facilities nationwide—enough to meet about 78% of the agency's total electricity needs.

November 2004 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has expanded its use of green power by committing to purchase 100% green power to match the electricity needs of its Federal Triangle complex and the building which houses its Office of Air and Radiation in Washington D.C. On behalf of EPA, the General Services Administration entered into a three-year contract with Community Energy and Pepco Energy Services to purchase 44.8 million kWh of renewable energy certificates (RECs) annually for the Federal Triangle complex, starting in October 2004. The RECs will be supplied from wind facilities (25%) in Waymart, PA and Thomas, WV and landfill gas facilities (75%) located in the Mid-Atlantic region. In addition, the Defense Energy Support Center (DESC) signed a separate three-year contract on behalf of EPA with Old Mill Power Company to purchase about four million kWh per year of RECs for the Office of Air and Radiation, starting in June 2004. The RECs will be supplied from a wind farm in Meyersdale, PA.

With these purchases, EPA now procures about 203 million kWh of green power annually, representing 70% of its national electricity needs.

September 2004 - Pepco Energy Services announced that it has been awarded a contract by the U.S. General Services Administration to supply renewable energy certificates (RECs) to the Washington D.C. headquarters of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), beginning this month. Under the 37-month contract, the company will supply more than 110 million kWh of RECs from landfill gas generation sources located in the mid-Atlantic region.

August 2004 - Federal government agencies recently issued six requests for proposals (RFPs) for renewable energy supplies, seeking a collective 237 – 387 million kWh of renewable energy certificates (RECs). The RECs will be used to supply EPA facilities in Washington, D.C., North Carolina, and in the West; GSA facilities in the Mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes regions; and World Bank facilities in Washington, D.C.

The green power procurements will help the federal government reach its goal of obtaining 2.5% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2005.

June 2004 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has entered into agreements to purchase a total of 7.7 million kWh of renewable energy certificates (RECs) annually for three laboratories in Minnesota, Michigan, and Nevada. Under a three-year contract with QVINTA, Inc., EPA will purchase 2.35 million kWh of RECs for its Duluth, MN laboratory sourced from wind facilities located in Dodge Center, MN. In addition, EPA has entered into a three-year agreement with 3 Phases Energy (now serviced by 3Degrees) to purchase 4.65 million kWh of RECs for its Las Vegas, NV laboratory sourced from wind farms located in California's San Gorgonio Pass and 700,000 kWh of RECs for its Grosse Ile, MI laboratory sourced from a landfill gas generating facility in Lenox, MI.

March 2004 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is purchasing green power for two Georgia-based facilities. Under a three-year agreement between the Defense Energy Support Center (on behalf of EPA) and 3 Phases Energy (now serviced by 3Degrees), EPA will purchase 11.2 million kWh of renewable energy certificates (RECs) annually to supply its Region 4 Office Building in Atlanta and its Science and Ecosystem Support Division Laboratory in Athens. The RECs will be supplied from landfill gas generating facilities located in Kentucky and North Carolina.

Including this procurement, EPA now purchases a total of about 122.5 million kWh of green power annually, which is equivalent to 44% of the electricity consumed at all EPA facilities nationwide.

October 2003 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it has committed to purchase green power to meet 50% of the annual electricity needs at its laboratory complex in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Under three separate agreements, the Agency will purchase a total of 35.7 million kWh of green power for the facility.

During the 2004 fiscal year, EPA will purchase 5.7 million kWh of green power for the laboratory complex through the new statewide NC GreenPower program. In addition, it has contracted with 3 Phases Energy (now serviced by 3Degrees) for 10 million kWh of wind energy certificates from a wind power project in Algona, Iowa, and with Sterling Planet for 20 million kWh of renewable energy certificates from a landfill gas plant in Jacksonville, Florida.

With this latest purchase, EPA now uses green power for more than 40% of the electricity needs at its facilities nationwide. Other purchases include:

September 2003 - 3 Phases Energy (now serviced by 3Degrees) announced that it has signed a deal with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to supply EPA's Region 6 Houston Laboratory with wind energy certificates procured from the 204-MW New Mexico Wind Energy Center. The certificate purchase amounts to 10 million kWh over a three-year period.

April 2003 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that the agency's Region 2 office, located in Lower Manhattan, will become the first EPA regional office in the country to be completely powered by wind energy. The agreement with Community Energy, Inc. calls for EPA to purchase 6.2 million kWh of wind energy over the course of one year. The power will be supplied from the Fenner Wind Power Project located in Madison County, NY.

August 2001 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has negotiated agreements with Community Energy and Com Ed to purchase renewable energy to meet 100% of the energy needs of a 10-story laboratory and office building and two other facilities in Cincinnati, Ohio. Beginning in October, EPA will purchase more than 15 million kWh of renewable energy annually for three years with a three-year renewal option. Community Energy will supply 5% of the power from the 15-MW Mill Run wind farm in Pennsylvania and ComEd will supply the remainder from landfill gas facilities located in Illinois.

With previously announced green power purchases in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, and Washington, EPA will be receiving 9% of its nationwide electricity use from renewable sources by early 2002.

May 2000 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has entered into an agreement with the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) to purchase power from new wind resources to supply a portion of the agency's Northwest power needs. EPA is negotiating a 10-year agreement with BEF to purchase about 2.1 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of wind power annually at a premium of 2.2¢/kWh. The premium will be used to support the installation and operation of at least one, new 700-kW wind turbine, which would generate enough power on an annual basis to serve EPA's Manchester Laboratory in Port Orchard, WA. Since its establishment in 1998, BEF has negotiated the sale of about 23 average MW of green power.

February 2000 - In early March, the General Services Administration (GSA) plans to issue a request for proposals (RFP) from energy service providers to provide 100% renewable power to a new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) laboratory to be constructed in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. A pre-solicitation meeting is tentatively planned for March 9th in Boston. Information on the pre-solicitation meeting and the RFP will be posted on GSA's Public Utilities Solicitations On-Line or Electronic Posting System. Proposals were due on March 31, 2000.

January 2000 - The New England Regional Office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) regarding the purchase of green power for a new Massachusetts laboratory facility scheduled for completion in late 2000. In the RFI notice, EPA also expresses interest in exploring green power purchases for facilities in Rhode Island and/or New Jersey.

The purpose of the RFI is to gather information that will assist the EPA in preparing a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) and to give green power suppliers advance notice of the agency's intention to purchase green power. EPA would like to finalize a green power purchase contract by early April. Written responses to the RFI are due by Tuesday, February 1.

June 1999 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) became the first federal agency to purchase green power in California's competitive electricity market when it announced that the agency's Richmond research laboratory will be powered with 100% renewable electricity. Under a three-year agreement reached between the Federal General Services Administration (GSA) and the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District (SMUD), SMUD will provide the facility with Green-e-certified power from it's Greenergysm product, which consists of 60% geothermal energy from plants located in The Geysers and 40% landfill gas from a new facility being constructed in Sacramento. The EPA facility uses about 1.8 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, which is the equivalent of 200 average Sacramento homes. According to a story in the Sacramento Bee, the green power purchase will cost EPA about $19,000 per year more than purchasing system power, a premium of about 1.0¢/kWh.

The EPA announcement follows on the heels of a Presidential Executive Order, which calls for federal agencies to use energy efficiency strategies and renewable energy technologies to cut emissions of greenhouse gases 30% by 2010. The June 3rd order states that "each agency shall strive to expand the use of renewable energy within its facilities and in its activities by implementing renewable energy projects and by purchasing electricity from renewable energy sources."

February 1999 - The General Services Administration (GSA) is requesting proposals for electricity from 100% renewable generation sources, to be supplied to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Laboratory located in Richmond, California. The renewable power must be Green-e certified and must come from the following sources: biomass, solar thermal, photovoltaic, wind, geothermal, small hydropower of 30 megawatts or less, digester gas or landfill gas. In the case of a tie, GSA will give priority to bids for "new" renewable generation facilities, which according to California law are facilities that became operational on or after September 23, 1996. GSA would like the power to be delivered beginning in May 1999. GSA is seeking a 36-month contract with a 36-month renewal option period. Proposals are due March 16, 1999.